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By: Darius

Local H rolled into the Los Angeles area for two shows this past week, and yours truly was in attendance for both of them. The shows were at the legendary Troubadour in West Hollywood and the not-quite-so-legendary Brixton in Redondo Beach. This tour was highly anticipated and the reviews thus far have been nothing short of stellar. The 6 Angry Records tour is an ambitious one: an audience members chooses one of 6 albums out of hat, to be played in its entirety. Afterwards, Local H plays an additional set of songs spanning the bands career. Pretty fâ€™ing awesome.

I was rooting to hear Here Comes The Zoo and 12 Angry Months for my two stops, and I scored on the former. The Troubadour show was excellent. It was beyond cool getting to hear one of my favorite rock records played in its entirety. The second set was fantastic and highlighted by â€œManifest Destiny part 2â€, the closer from Local Hâ€™s breakthrough album As Good As Dead.

Without a doubt, my favorite aspect of this tour is that Local Hâ€™s Scott Lucas is bringing members from Left Brain Heart, the opening band that Lucas has taken under his wing, on stage to augment the bandâ€™s sound on some of the more complicated numbers with guitar parts as well as backing vocals. Songs like “What Would You Have Me Do”, “Rock N Roll Professionals”, and “White Belt Boys” (2 drummers!), really came to life and invigorated the overall energy on stage. The Left Brain Heart guys would just jump on stage whenever their parts were needed and with killer results. I havenâ€™t seen anyone else on stage with Scott and drummer Brian St. Claire since the 2002 Here Comes The Zoo headlining tour. Random fact from that tour: Chevelle, another Chicago-area band, actually opened that tour. They werenâ€™t even direct support. 1 year later they played the main stage of Ozzfest.

Two days later Local H played the Brixton, which is a pretty nice place located at the Redondo Beach pier. Pack Up The Cats was pulled out of the hat and the band absolutely killed it. Scott was in a great mood and you could tell he was having a fun time on stage. One highlight was during the second set, while the band played â€œBound For The Floorâ€. Scott noticed someone in the audience wearing a Chicago t-shirt and brought him up on stage during the middle of the song. After the crowd began to cheer, he segued right into the Chicago classic â€œ25 or 6 to 4.â€

Drummer Brian St. Claire doesnâ€™t get enough credit in this band. The guy is an animal. Non-stop pummeling beats, amplified by the fact that he plays with his drum sticks upside down, so that the heavy side is utilized. His drum kit takes some serious abuse and itâ€™s fun to watch.

The band didnâ€™t take any breaks in between sets, which was pretty surprising. These were straight forward, kick ass shows that featured a full length album performance, culminated in an additional set spanning over the bandâ€™s entire career, and Scott Lucas, himself, manning the merchandise table afterwards to meet and greet with fans. Canâ€™t be beat. Youâ€™d be hard pressed to find a band that strives this hard to make each and every show a memorable experience for their fans. Local H rules.

Dennis, I think that’s the point – Local H plays music for their fans. And for themselves. They don’t really dumb it down for casual listeners, though after they play the album, they play another 45 minutes of hits.

What other band would learn 70+ songs for a tour and not know what they’re going to play until 5 minutes before the show starts? What other band would play a 45 minute show featuring their three 15-minute opuses? What other band would have their fans vote for which songs they’ll play as they did on an earlier tour.

They played 12 Angry Months in MN a couple weeks back. My review of that show is here: http://bit.ly/9VTaQG

You can find reviews of shows – including the albums played – at http://www.localh.com in the reviews section of the forum.